Ofsteds proposals to increase our reg fees !

[chankins]

Only found out about this the other day !
Does anyone know much about it ?
Apparently they propose raising our yearly registration fees to a hundred quid !
We've all signed letters of protest in our group, statting that it will quite simply put many of us out of business to have to pay that much, on top of all the other expenses.
Do you think it will happen ??!!

I do think it will happen. Seen a lot of these "consultations" come and go over the years and have asked everyone in the business to respond, but i do feel that these things are a done deal. My childminder asked me the other day if I thought the Government was trying to phase out childminders, it seems so. £100 is a hell of a lot, plus the Nursery reg fees are gonna be huge £400! When all daycare is run by schools there'll be no need to worry then, will there Mr Brown?

I agree, these 'consulations' are a waste of time, OFSTED have already decided they will put fees up and we cannot do the same as parents will not be able to afford our fees if we did.

I still don't know why more and more people are able to register as childminders as in alot of areas there seem to be a shortage of work. Why can't Childminders who have been working for at least 5 yrs inform them of this at Pre-registration meetings?

I have done this job for 6 yrs and am having terrble problems filling my vacancies due to too uch supply and not enough dmeand in my area. I have treid everything to advertise and short of wlaking around with a sandwich board in the town centre, I do not know how I will be able to carry on.

please excuse spelling mistakes, it is late on a Friday evening

At least they are not going for the "full cost recovery" option... which may have seen childminder registration fees rise to £750
See this RIA (from childcare bill consultation I think, document is undated but I expect it was during 2005)

If you care for 3 children in basic terms its a rise of around 54p per week per child, so now is the time to consider putting up your fees. You have 2 years notice that this will happen so start the fee increase this year and next to cover the cost. Some of this money is being given back to Sure Start from the government so that they can provide more training for childminders. So its swings and roundabouts really.

It will be more than £100 eventually as most childminders will need to register on all three of the new registers. As I understand it the gradual increase applies to only one register - the others will need to be paid on joining.

Okay, I know the register for over 8s is still voluntary but if we don't "choose" to join it parents of over 8s won't be able to find us on official lists (I'm told schools etc will only be able to give out no.s of registered carers), and they won't be able to claim childcare element of tax credits or use childcare vouchers.

I've sent a letter, it won't make any difference. I've seen replies to NCMA letter - they're totally dismissing the arguments raised.

BTW I do believe the current fee is too low. But I would like to see something in return for a higher fee. Theres been no mention of increased training for Ofsted telephone staff (do they even get any?) to minimise the amount of inaccurate information they are giving out. No mention of implementing their planned rolling programme of enhanced CRB checks for existing childminders...

I'm not sure how £2 a week will affect most people?

I only look after one child at the moment and am earning £40.00 per week (b4 and after school). I am finding it VERY hard to get any more children to mind, how the hell am I supposed to afford any more than £100?

This is a disgrace, this Government don't seem to care that alot of good childminders will just give up or look for other work. Where is the choice then for parents?

Another point Ayla made is that we will have to join other registers or not be recognised and the parents won't be able to claim childcare tax element.
Surestart isn';t doing anything in my area for childminders, they have creches etc but they are free to those who live in 'the area', children who live otside the boundary seem to be excluded and that is not fair, they don't choose to live there their parents did well before Surestart came.

You will only be required to pay the once and join all 3 registers for the £100 not £100 each register.It would be wise to join the volutary register for over 8's to allow those parents to receive tax credits.

When this comes around in a couple of years I think 2 things will happen. The first one is as EYFS takes hold and people are getting inspected on it, you will find that some childminders will drop out as they will find it too much hard work. They will then get the temptation to childmind without any regulation as it is easier to do so rather than bother with the paperwork.

Maybe a sliding scale could be used - £50 for outstanding childminders, £75 for good and £100 for new/ satisfactory ones for example.

One way or another it will be the commited childminders that do all the paperwork expected, so parents will ultimately see the differences.

We still have people here that think that as they are "older" they do not have to bother registering. It makes me mad as all the training etc we have to do, they do not do any.

The point is, Tigersmum, I just cannot afford £100 for that plus public liability, new toys and new materials etc.

As I said I only have the one child and £40 does not go anywhere near paying for those sort of things. There are more and more cms being registered and more nurseries opening so work is all but drying up in my area. Plus we have Suretstart which offer free creches and is opening a nursery in September.

I cannot really afford to go out to work unless I can get my 17 yr old to pick lad from school and pay him something for doing that. I don't get WFTC and have no family nearby but if I have to I will try and get creche work.

Some Sure Starts are considering giving grants to childminders to help them pay the £100, so may be worth asking your Sure Start if they would consider this for childminders like Mum2Luke who will struggle to pay it and the rest of the stuff we have to pay for. No harm in asking.

I might just do that, good idea! I really want to stay as a childminder so that I can be with my own ds (5) at least until he is about 11 when he starts senior school!

I love this job and am really hoping I'll get some more little ones to mind. I've got OFSTED coming in June and if I've no kids I may have to borrow some!

I'm putting together another portfolio/welcome pack for prospective parents with my policies etc. Have got photos (with permission from parent and past parents).

I might apply for the Bank creche workers job anyway, could do with some work and some money as its fast running out.

I spoke to someone at OFSTED and they insist its not them who are putting up the fees they only collect them ....